My preference for dummers are those who are more technical rather than raw like Bonham. That's not to say that Bonham is one bad ass mofo.

I think that Neil Peart by far is the best technical drummer out there and was my inspiration for getting into drumming when I was younger. His drum work on Tom Sawyer is awesome.

 

I've alway been sad that Les Binks never did anything of note after he left Judas Priest. Stained Class and Hell Bent For Leather are my fave Priest albums largely because of his drumming.

Neil Peart is godlike.

Neil Smith from the old Alice Cooper band was real tight, and fast, and also played with the Plasmatics for a while.

Also Terry Bozzio, Jerry Marotta, and Bill Bruford.

of all of them, if I had to pick one, Neil Peart.

 

Lars Ulrich and Mark Portnoy.

 

John Bonham for being an incredible force of power
Dave Grohl (Bonham inspired, and boy does he hit the skins hard, he did work for a few bands you might have heard of, Queens of the Stone Age and a little known Washington group called Nirvana.)
Keith Moon for being ridiculous and hard hitting
Zak Starkey (Ringo's son!) for being technically proficient and knowing how to hit it hard when he needs to, you'll see him touring with both The Who and Oasis (Ringo's son drums for a Beatles derived band... hm)
Ginger Baker the man behind the drums for Cream is amazing

BUDDY RICH. Yeah. That guy.

::closes thread::

 

Bill Ward of Black Sabbath.

 

Danny Carey from Tool. They're my favorite band, and he has an amazing kit.

It's a joy to watch him play live. But then, it's a joy to watch Tool play live in general.

Actually when I saw them back in July, Danny did a mid-song jam session with the drummer from their opening act (Big Business). Lasted for about five minutes. The amazing thing was, the kid had what I can only call the Smallest Drum Kit Ever, and really played well with Danny. It was a great thing to watch, and no one complained that Lateralus ran for a good fourteen minutes that night.

 

My dad